1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to seating stools, and more particularly to a stool module usable in schools, kindergartens and other facilities intended for very young children, the modular stool being capable of functioning as an individual seat or desk unit, or of being so interlinked with like stools as to create three different multi-seating configurations.
2. Status of Prior Art
In schools, kindergartens, play rooms and other facilities intended for small children whose ages lie in the four to eight year range, the need exists for chairs or seats as well as desk units in a scale appropriate to these tots. Thus in a kindergarten having a class of twenty children at least an equal number of chair and desk units are required. While children can play with toys on the floor, a desk unit is desirable, not only to make it more convenient for a child to play with toys, but also to provide an elevated surface on which a child may draw or paint.
The total cost of small chairs and desk units for furnishing a kindergarten or school room is relatively high, even if the cost of an individual chair or stool or of a desk unit is modest. In a period when school budgets are being cut back in order to reduce the tax load on local communities, schools may no longer be able to afford the required number of chairs and desk units.
But apart from the cost factor are space requirements, for one must be able on occasion to clear a kindergarten room of all chairs and desk units in order to provide an unobstructed play area for children. To do this, a storage facility is required to accommodate these furnishings.
In order to reduce storage space requirements, it is known to provide stackable stools or chairs. Thus the Iskander U.S. Pat. No. 3,600,036 discloses reinforced plastic seats that can be stacked one above the other or interlocked in tandem. And the Heyer U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,588, shows three identical stools which can be internested to create a cube requiring relatively little storage space.